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Sharp increase in e-scooter collisions and deaths

12 people were killed in e-scooter accidents in the year ending on June 2022. (PA)
Twelve people were killed in e-scooter accidents in the year to June 2022. (PA)

There has been a sharp increase in the number of e-scooter accidents in Britain with 12 deaths in a year – three times as many as in the previous 12 months.

Government data shows that in the year to June there were 1,349 collisions involving e-scooters, compared to 978 in the preceding year to June 2021 – a 28% increase.

Of these, 346 were single-vehicle incidents involving only e-scooters.

From these collisions, 12 people were killed, three times as many as the four deaths in the previous year.

In total there were 1,437 injuries, up from 1,033 the previous year. Of those injured, 1,095 were e-scooter users and 429 were seriously injured.

Councils across England are currently trialling e-scooters. (PA)
Councils across England are currently trialling e-scooters. (PA)

Read more: Train strikes: When are the walkouts and which lines are affected?

The government has warned that the true number of collisions and injuries were likely much higher because several police forces had not sent their complete data, with some key areas missing several months.

Allowing e-scooters on roads is currently being trialled across the UK, and this was recently extended until May 2024 despite the rising number of collisions.

Rental e-scooters are currently being trialled in 30 areas across England.

It is illegal to use them on pavements, but many of the collisions occur there.

Walking charity Living Streets said there were more than 750,000 illegal, privately owned e-scooters already being used on public roads, and they rarely face prosecution.

The problem of increasing e-scooter accidents has been highlighted by the media, as well as by local and national politicians.

There are thousands of illegal e-scooters on British roads. (PA)
There are thousands of illegal e-scooters on British roads. (PA)

A woman in Hull was left with a cracked skull and is unable to work when she was hit by an e-scooter in August.

Local counsellor Viv Padden told Hull Live the woman was walking to work between 5am and 6am when the scooter came round the corner and collided with her.

He said: "She didn't see it coming and the next thing she remembered was waking up in hospital where doctors told her her skull had fractures in three places. There's no indication when she'll be able to return to work, her life's been turned upside down."

In October, a woman using an e-scooter was left with "life-threatening" injuries after she collided with a car in Bristol.